Many companies large and small collect a ton of offline data on customers and prospects. Initiatives to collect data might be rebate forms, sweepstakes, product registration cards, and the like.
As an email marketer it’s important to have a handle on what your company is doing in this area. Wouldn’t it be frustrating to find out that your company collected 25,000 names this year from a sweepstakes but didn’t ask entrants for an email address and permission to email? Or that you only found out about the sweepstakes 9 months after it ran, long after the collected data grew stale?
If nothing else, request email addresses and put a checkbox asking for permission to email on every offline data collection point. And if possible, provide input into what data your company collects. You might have ideas for creating questions that give the company more actionable data, or ideas for making the offline data card more user-friendly.
It’s important to send a follow-up email ASAP to people who have opted in. At best you’ll probably only be able to send the follow-up email a week or two after the person signs up. Their information has to be sent to your collection center, entered into a database, etc., and who knows how long this could take. So be sure to craft a message that welcomes subscribers and reminds them that they requested to be opted in. Let them know where you got their information from and take baby steps by transitioning them into your email program slowly.
Even though the message is probably considered transactional, make it CAN-SPAM compliant in all respects, especially by including a clear opt-out notice. Despite your best efforts many people won’t recall giving you their permission to email them, so it’s better to have them unsubscribe through your company rather than reporting you as spam to their ISP.
Remember to look beyond online efforts to provide a steady stream of fresh subscribers. It might make the difference between keeping your head above water and exceeding your goals for the year.
Tags: COS
